I need some advice… I am a very heavy sweater and am always covered in salt after a long ride.
I rode the Death Ride this weekend; which took a little over 10 hours. During the ride, I drank no less than 1 bottle/hour, took 1-2 Salt Tabs/hour. I never found myself dehydrated, nor did I ever feel crampy or out of energy. But, I was covered in a thick layer of salt. That night, I also found myself craving even more salt and I downed a few glasses of electrolyte drink after I began feeling a little dizzy. This seemed to make me feel much better.
So, here are my the questions…
Should I be concerned about the amount of salt that I am covered with? Am I just cursed?
Is there anything I can do to keep the salt from accumulating (i.e. take in more salt, drink more, etc)?
How many Salt Tabs/hour is too much? The bottle says no more than 2/hour. I was thinking of taking 3/hour on my next hot ride to see what happens. I am just worried that I will become bloated and my stomach will react badly.
Get more water at aid stations/water bottle hand-ups and spray yourself off. One, this will cool you off and could reduce sweat to some degree. Two, it will clean you off.
I am a heavy sweater and recently discovered that my performance was directly correlated to my intake of sodium. However, too much for me is a taste issue.
That’s a good point. I always try to have at least one bottle of water (ice cold if I can get it) that I use to spray myself with to help keep my core temp down. For me, a high core temp always means an impending implosion.
Get more water at aid stations/water bottle hand-ups and spray yourself off. One, this will cool you off and could reduce sweat to some degree. Two, it will clean you off.
I am a heavy sweater and recently discovered that my performance was directly correlated to my intake of sodium. However, too much for me is a taste issue.
I, too, am a very salty sweater. I’m usually covered in salt at the end of a ride or race. I switched from regular gels to E-gels, which have a good bit of sodium and electrolytes in them. I take those with water and gatorade during a race, and have no problems. Kills two birds with one stone, and I eliminate trying to down salt tabs during a race.
Slide the slider all the way on the sodium - Many peoples InfinIT blends taste like orange flavored sea water, but then you only need your drink. No messing around with salt tabs, etc.
If not, check out elyte (liquid electrolyte replacement) that you can dissolve into anything with just a few drops. Endurolytes et. al have so little usable sodium they just tend to cause GI distress in people.
Combo of Infinit that is formulated very salty and e-gels with water (added bonus - they are 150 calories instead of 100) or powergels with 4 x sodium with water.
rroof,
thanks for the info. i am currently using Salt Stick Caps (http://www.saltstick.com/competitor_comparison.htm), but was confused by your last statement. do these not have enough usable sodium? can you explain?
Slide the slider all the way on the sodium - Many peoples InfinIT blends taste like orange flavored sea water, but then you only need your drink. No messing around with salt tabs, etc.
If not, check out elyte (liquid electrolyte replacement) that you can dissolve into anything with just a few drops. Endurolytes et. al have so little usable sodium they just tend to cause GI distress in people.
Infinit is the only way to go. Start with the mix with the sodium dialed all the way up and maybe add a salt tablet per hour if needed. Unfortunately, you are on your own on the run and have to take salt tabs during that (assuming you do tris). No way of stopping the salt accumulation unfortunately. Do rise yourself off as the accumulation of salt can lead to some chaffing as well. Good luck.
I’m also a salty sweater, and have been playing around with various hydration/nutrition over the past few months. I am in the “every person is unique” club, and would recommend trying out a bunch of the things that have already been suggested. Of the different mixes of electrolyte/water, gel/sports drink, and drink frequency plans that I’ve tried, the one that has been most successful so far is to actually cut back on electrolyte intake by sticking with straight water and PowerGel. Another factor that seems to have had a big influence is to reduce the sodium intake in my regular diet. I still have a nice salty coating after any long ride, but it seems to be reduced, and I feel better (energy-/hydration-wise) after long training sessions. Good luck!